Death Under the Dryer

Here we are with another instalment of the Carole and Jude adventures. These two ladies while away their "quiet" retirement on the south coast of England solving murder mysteries. I think the great strength of this series is the interaction between the stuffy, formal, ex civil servant Carole and the free spirited, former model, amongst other things, Jude. They make quite a team. Here with another beautifully crafted adventure lifting the lid on the hair and beauty salon world. And what a wonderful, yet eccentric range of characters we meet: people like The Locke family, who seem to live in a role playing game of their own design, a retired songwriter and his bossy wife and the hairdressers themselves. Just who would have a motive to murder the young assistant? As usual Carole and Jude have to use their own skills and talents to solve the mystery. There are lots of lovely interactions with suspects. Jude is at her flirtatious best and Carole is a no nonsense as ever. A great way to while away a winter evening enjoying the gentle yet sharp humour of Simon Brett.

In Fethering, England Carole Seddon decides she needs a bit cut off from her hair so she enters Connie's Clip Joint in spite of her trepidations about allowing a local to come near her ears with a scissor. However, she takes a chance because Carole just wants a bit of a snip not a change in her style. To her regret, she finds the corpse of clip joint employee Kyra strangled by a garrote in the salon's back room with evidence that a sexual encounter occurred also. Thus the Littlehampton police station major crime detectives assume Kyra's kept secret boyfriend (until now), Nathan killed her. Carole assumes that the cops she met are boobs so they need her London based Home office expert assistance on the investigation. She and her reluctant partner Jude make inquiries that annoy the local police as she keeps interfering with their inquiry. The police procedural is well written and cleverly designed as is the private investigation by Carole and Jude. However, what makes Simon Brett's whodunit so much fun is the amusing dysfunctional relationship between the haughty know it all Carole and the Fethering locals. Twelve championship rounds later Carole has been snipped, nipped and dipped so that she has become localized. Fans will appreciate the latest Fethering caper (see THE BODY ON THE BEACH and THE STABBING IN THE STABLES). Harriet Klausner